I worry that Dusty Baker getting re-signed will hurt the GM pool if Click leaves. Alignment between GM and coach is important, and probably costs the Astros a couple of games this year.
I have to think Crane has his guy lined up if he makes an offer sure to chase off Click. Maybe with a GM he likes/trusts he will make more of an effort to get Dusty to play ball. From everything we've heard he doesn't seem like he's been giving Click any support, which is absurd this day and age.
JV is great and he stands among my all time favorite Astros pitchers. At his age he could fall apart on any given day. A high AAV or a long contract or both pretty much ensures that he becomes an albatross around somebodies neck. I do not expect Crane to let Justin walk away without making him a serious offer but I do not expect that offer to be over $32.5 million per or longer than two years guaranteed with perhaps a mutual option for a third. More than that just adds another bullet or two to the chamber in a one man game of Russian Roulette.
But wasn’t the deal bungled to the point that the Cubs used Click as leverage and no longer included Happ? I know you’re putting all your chips in as pro-Click… but I haven’t been necessarily impressed at his ability to fortify/close deals for the MLB team. The referendum on his overall abilities (not just building a bullpen) is what is being judged by Crane, and three years is a fair amount of time to gauge those skills. In a perfect world, they’d have another president of baseball ops and Click could just be the general manager.
I'm not really pro-click so much as anti-owner sticking his nose in and trusting the opinion of Dusty Baker and "baseball guys" on personnel choices. From day one Click has never been given the freedom or resources to build Luhnow was. He didn't even get to choose his own manager and it has been a constant battle to get Dusty to play the team he wants him to, with the owner seemingly siding with Dusty. I have no strong opinion on Click either way, Crane's actions are what I care about and they scare me.
Another offseason "addition" is that I think there is a really good chance Hunter Brown is going to be a stud next year in a starting role.
Maybe Click didn’t entrust himself on a level that Luhnow did based on how he carried/presented himself? Maybe the introverted nature and smaller resume of him led to some of those limitations as well? Lets also not forget that Click did vouch heavily for Odorizzi, Baez and Meyers… not all his choices have been slam dunks that Dusty has ignored. Crane has also been pretty consistent in his actions from day one. There’s no doubt who’s team this is. Didn’t see this much anger when he got involved in business ops and sent Reid Ryan away, and the brand/value has continued to improve since. If he hires a true baseball ops guy, I expect him to want that person to be able to be self sufficient (if they have what it takes).
He can do whatever the hell he wants on the business side, why would I care about that. And as for making mistakes, Luhnow completely blew the first overall pick...twice, mistakes happen. Ultimately you're right, Click never had his trust, and was never allowed to do his job fully, and I fear that will become a trend when the next GM doesn't pull off super deals in his first season. The vetoed panic move that everybody is hating on Click for would have greatly benefitted our offense in October. Luckily our lackluster offense and Verlander(Crane's favorite son) were saved by the all time dominant pen he constructed and we won a lot of close games. Yet he's the one taking heat right now for not being good at his job.
Crane's actions "scare" you? I could understand being concerned and disagreeing with Crane but being "scared"?? Who do you think hired Luhnow? Who hired Click? Crane isn't going to do everything right but he's certainly earned the benefit of the doubt to be trusted since he's been the owner. He's surrounded himself with very knowledgeable baseball people and the proof is it's working. They just won the WS and they're set up to compete for more. Click certainly helped build the bullpen but nobody knows the interactions between him and Crane and maybe there's just not the right fit. All I know is Crane has given us no reason not to trust him and until he does I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, it scares me that he will become a Jerry Jones type who think he knows more than the GM and will never allow them to execute their vision, so instead they are constantly making moves to try and placate him instead of just doing what they think is best. Drayton McClane had a not unsimilar arc here in Houston, although Crane has been a far, far better spender.
I don't know if Click will be good at building a great team. I am incredibly pro-Click in the sense that he recognizes this team is great, and hasn't traded away anyone key to the team. I consider Click's inability to fortify/close trades as likely key to the Astros winning the World Series (i.e., keeping great players/high level prospects), and in being in a great position going forward over the next 3-4 seasons. After that, I worry about the Astros a little as Click has not shown the ability to rebuild the farm, but hasn't had much to work with either. I think this is where a GM makes his mark. I do like Gilbert and Leon. His hoarding of prospects makes me think he will be better than average at this, but that is to be seen. Even if Click turns out to be horrible at building a team, he probably will still milk the current roster for the best odds of winning in the postseason in the short term. Caveat: I literally love this team, and think they are very capable of winning a World Series as long as they spend in free agency and don't trade/lose too much from the SPs and the pen. Edit: Not limited to baseball, but I've seen too many new managers come in and have to fix things. Maybe these fixes make things better in the long run, but usually there are issues in the short term. It is very rare skill for a manager to a new position to suppress their ego, and just let a well oiled machine keep running.
Certainly understand being concerned about the possibility of that happening (yes Drayton was guilty of this), but given Crane's track record since he's been here I don't see him micro-managing things. Has he stepped in at times absolutely but look at the results thus far. We can play the "if" game all day long. They just won the WS and things are obviously working. I also like the Vazquez move because it means we still have Urquidy. I respect your opinion however. I guess we'll see how things play out moving forward.
If we are going by results, Click is the best wartime GM in the Astros history. Granted, the players get the credit for winning the games, and the former GM gets credit for buidling the framework of the team.
I did not want to visit this thread until a couple of weeks from now but was thinking Rizzo would be perfect fit at First and will likely not break the bank? IMO, we need another solid lefty bat with good glove work at 1B and Rizzo fits the bill. Bell would be another to watch but I assume he will get a bigger contract than Bell. https://metsmerizedonline.com/morning-briefing-anthony-rizzo-opts-out-of-contract-with-yankees/
With Rizzo being given the qualifying offer, I don’t see him as an option since they will lose a draft pick. However, guys like Bell and Drury look great since they can’t get an offer and will probably be overpaid.
